Staff forums on the horizon

Book your place for the forums

We’re looking forward to seeing you all at this year’s staff engagement forums, which get underway next month.

The forums are one of the highlights of the year as it’s an opportunity to talk face to face on the direction of the organisation, the priorities and focus for the future and your role in achieving these. 

Every year we try and make the sessions as interactive as possible and your input and feedback will again be a major feature of the time we have together. So, if you haven’t already done so, please book a place at a venue closest to your usual hub, as places are booking up quickly.

A hub re-Bourne

It was good news to see Bourne Hill fully open to the public and staff on Monday.

We would like to thank everyone involved in the Bourne Hill decant for the professionalism they showed during the complicated process of moving offices whilst maintaining high standards of service to the public and we hope you all like the improvements that have been made.  

Alistair recently meeting staff at Bourne Hill

Employees Mark Murnane and Amanda George at Bourne Hill

Budget remains key focus

We are continuing to meet regularly with members and directors to discuss the budget; both this year’s and next year’s. You may recall a cabinet paper last month stated a projected overspend. Whilst this is not unusual at this point in the year, it does mean we have to review spend over the next few months, and look at how we deliver the savings that were approved when the budget was set in February.  While we have delivered a balanced budget in recent years, it is regularly monitoring that ensures we can plan and take action, where it’s needed.

Becky Hellard fills financial post

The director of finance keeps us all on track with the budget and we are currently in the process of recruiting a new director following Michael Hudson, who left the council earlier in the year. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank Ian Duncan who stepped into Michael’s shoes for an interim period at such a busy time. Ian will be leaving on 19 October and will be replaced by Becky Hellard on an interim basis. Becky is joining us at a particularly crucial part of the year and we’re looking forward to working with her alongside the cabinet as we look to set next year’s budget. We started the longlisting process of employing a permanent post this week and it was pleasing to see some strong candidates had applied.

Finance is a big challenge for local authorities right now and we look forward to appointing a new director that’s up to the challenge. We will keep you updated.

Taking care of care leavers

Cabinet took place this week and there was some good news for those young people who move from care into independent lives, as it was agreed that the council will waive council tax fees for them up to age 25. This forms part of a newly-created Care Leavers Covenant which we hope supports care leavers in a number of ways at this vital transition in their lives and gives them the opportunities to achieve what they want to.

The latest cabinet meeting took place on Tuesday in the Council Chamber

Meeting the people who matter

Terence will be visiting children’s services team in both Amesbury and Devizes this week. As with the staff engagement forums we mentioned earlier, quality face to face time with staff is always worthwhile, and to get direct feedback, rather than at second or third hand, is much more preferable.

We’ll be working with a number of internal and external colleagues later in the week at a FACT-organised systems leadership training event. The FACT programme brings together many partners and colleagues together, all whom have their own way of working, so this type of training should help ensure we’re working as consistently as possible – which ultimately will be to the benefit of the residents that use our services.

Carlton also attended the last in this recent run of adult social care staff forums, with around 150 people attending.  It was useful to update everyone on the progress of phase 1 of this programme, and to talk with them on what phase 2 will look like. They were all productive sessions so thanks to everyone who came along.

Government visiting Salisbury

And finally, Alistair will be hosting a visit with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on today (Thursday). The visit has a big tourism focus and the Secretary of State will be visiting some of the most popular spots in the city, including the cathedral. We will be implementing a long-term economic plan to ensure the city thrives, and support from the government with this important piece of work is most welcome. 

Salisbury's iconic cathedral 

Alistair, Carlton and Terence

Good week engaging with staff and the public

Last week and this week the council is hosting a number of engagement events focusing on supporting people in Wiltshire.

FACT event involving partners and families

On Friday we hosted a Families and Children’s Transformation (FACT) Programme event in Devizes. The event focused on how we work with partners and families to improve the future for children and young people. We discussed ideas with the Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group and Wiltshire Police amongst others, and heard from families, as their input will help influence how we work in the future.  FACT is a huge programme of change with many elements – but, one common goal – how we work together for the benefit of families in Wiltshire. The programme is bringing agencies closer to families so that potential issues or problems can be identified and addressed early. There will be more about the FACT programme as it’s progressed and implemented. It will impact on many areas of the council and as far as we’re concerned, that will be positive. 

                                         Terence addresses the attendees at the FACT Programme Event

Technology helping with dyslexia

We also hosted and facilitated an event (Monday evening) to provide support of a different kind. Dyslexia is a common learning disability but great strides have been taken in recent years to ensure those with Dyslexia have the same opportunities. Three speakers shared information on the latest technology available to help people overcome any problems they may have with their reading, writing and spelling. The event coincided with Dyslexia Awareness Week (which takes place this week) and those in attending found it extremely useful.

Employment opportunities for all

Yesterday (Tuesday) we hosted an EmployAbility Fair in the Atrium at County Hall. This was the second time we’ve hosted the fair and that’s testament to the success of last year’s event. The fair was extremely well attended with more than 160 people coming along, and it focused on employment options and opportunities for local people with a disability.  Around 30 organisations attended including telecommunications providers such as BT Openreach. The event was an opportunity for businesses to tap potential talent just waiting to be discovered. An inclusive workforce provides real value and these types of events help to remove barriers that preclude those with disabilities finding employment.

                                          A packed Atrium at the EmployAbility Fair

Working together to improve health and social care

Yesterday (Tuesday) we held a workshop with partners to assess progress following a CQC review of Wiltshire’s health and social care system.  The review highlighted areas for development, many of which we were already working on.  With our partners we have developed the Wiltshire Integration Programme, which will strengthen links across social and health care and make a big difference to how people journey through the health and social care system.  It was good to reflect on the positive work we’ve done so far and discuss the challenges that lie ahead and how these will be best managed.

Adult social care teams come together

Last week we mentioned our adult social care transformation team was running staff engagement sessions. The first session in Salisbury was attended by 120 staff and was a good opportunity to reflect on the new reablement model introduced in May and its success in helping local residents to live better lives and saving £1m so far. There was lots of interaction and some great questions from a clearly committed workforce. Our thanks go to everyone for their valuable contribution.

Out and about with our social workers

Terence is spending Wednesday shadowing social workers in Salisbury to observe the vital and challenging work they do to support and protect children and young people. Our role requires us to spend a lot of time in meetings, so to have some space to go out with the teams and see front line service delivery is invaluable and definitely time well spent.

Two teams take on the South West Challenge

We’re pleased that Wiltshire Council will be represented at this year’s South West Challenge in Exeter, which takes place this week. This event offers aspiring managers the opportunity to experience issues outside their normal work roles and gain an insight into senior management responsibilities. We’ve entered two teams that will spend the day as management leaders of a fictional local authority tackling tasks that a real corporate team would face.
Good luck to those involved and we’re sure they will enjoy the experience and learn loads.

Council management leaders meet in Taunton

On Friday senior managers across the south west will attend the regular SW Councils’ Chief Executive meeting. Terence will represent us to discuss matters including economic growth in the region. It’s always useful to share experiences and challenges with local authority peers, and exchange ideas that can be implemented.

Back to normal

Last week we announced that free parking after 3pm would be implemented in all our car parks in Salisbury and Amesbury and in all the city’s park and ride sites all day Monday to Saturday. This will help to support local businesses and traders in the run up to Christmas and will hopefully encourage visitors and shoppers to come to Salisbury and enjoy the Christmas Market, and this year the added attraction - an ice rink. Salisbury and Amesbury are getting back to normal and the focus is shifting to the long term economic plan to regenerate the Maltings and promote the city to national and international visitors.

                                          Bustling Salisbury during the recent food and drink festival

And, finally – appraisals all round

All three of us recently had our appraisal with the leader and deputy leader of the council to discuss our performance, priorities and objectives for the next six months. Everyone needs an appraisal to help clarify expectations and discuss their job role and how you can be supported to develop and grow if that’s what you are seeking. All managers will be asked to schedule appraisals over the next few months. 

Alistair, Carlton and Terrence

Significant moment for Wiltshire's health and life sciences industries

New Science Park opens 

Last week was significant for Wiltshire’s health and life sciences industries when Porton Science Park, near Salisbury, officially opened.

We spoke recently about the advantages of hosting a leading global company like Dyson on our doorstep. Similarly, this science park strengthens our status as a place for innovation and high-level skills and jobs.

It’s a very impressive enterprise, and we are proud that working with the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership and the European Regional Development Fund we helped to secure the funding needed.

Salisbury and Amesbury are getting back to normal

Last week the final site in Salisbury city centre, Zizzi restaurant, was handed back to its owners following a thorough clean up. Working with the owners of all the affected sites in both the town centres we aim to have them open in time for Christmas.

To support the lead up to the Christmas trading period free parking after 3.00pm will be implemented in all our council car parks in Salisbury and Amesbury from next Monday 1 October until Christmas. The five park and ride sites will continue to be free parking all day from Monday to Saturday.

Textbook example of a good campaign 

We released some fantastic stats this week.  

An incredible 9,398 children in the county took part in the Beano-themed Summer Reading Challenge. Between them, they read more than 37,000 books!

Well done to the library team for a successful campaign, and thank you to the 250+ volunteers for their valuable support who help to make this challenge such a success.

EPIC effort in staff engagement 

We recently held our regular forum for senior managers.

It’s always a great opportunity to discuss important corporate matters, which can then be shared with all teams.

Last week’s forum focused on staff engagement, looking at how managers can motivate staff to engage. We know that staff that participate and feel engaged are more passionate and proud of where they work and consequently performance levels are higher.

On a similar note, this week our adult social care team began to run staff engagement sessions where Carlton and cabinet member Jerry Wickham meet staff.  The aim of these sessions is to acknowledge the immense amount of hard work that has taken place over the past year as part of a major transformation project within adult social care to deliver prevention, early intervention and reablement in addition to an approach that builds on people’s strengths and assets to ensure they are as independent as possible.

We are also about to embark on phase 2 of this programme. It will update staff regarding future plans, and gather their thoughts on how we can further implement this approach to support people with a learning disability or mental health condition.  

Digital programme gets underway

Our Digital Programme launched this week, with a presentation to senior managers and some members, including the deputy leader. 

Colleagues from the council and partners Microsoft, Thoughtonomy and itelligent-I, explained how the two-year programme will allow residents to transact with the council online, quickly, securely, easily, all day and any day.

The digital front end will be matched by improvements in our back-office processes, which will include the use of ‘virtual assistants’ – computer software that will do the administrative processes, freeing people up to do work of greater value.  This will be the first use by local government of this exciting artificial intelligence capability.  The programme also includes the development of advanced Business Intelligence processes, involving analysis of ‘big data’ across services, to enable better insights and potentially earlier interventions in support of residents. To put it simply, it will make us a much more efficient forward-thinking organisation.

Cabinet reviews performance and budget

Cabinet met this week and for those of not in the know, or perhaps new to the council, cabinet meets regularly to agree policy, plans and strategies, and the overall direction of the council.

The agenda this week focused on the budget and monitoring how we’re doing, and to ensure plans are in place to deliver a balanced budget at end March 2019. Members also reviewed our overall performance and the progress we’re making to deliver the transformation programmes such as adult care and children and families. We’re pleased to update that we are making good progress and starting to see a difference in service delivery and outcomes for users and customers – so thank you to all of you for your continued hard work.

Alistair, Carlton and Terence

Unveiling a new Bourne Hill identity

This week we are celebrating our return to Bourne Hill.

It’s a satisfying moment, and one that’s possible only thanks to the hard work of a lot of people.

It’s also a good time to say thanks to everyone for all your patience over the last months.

We know it has at times been a trying and frustrating experience – but as you’ll appreciate, entirely necessary. We had to ensure the building was ready for our staff and the public. And we’ve done that.

We’re also sure that everyone working at or visiting the offices will enjoy the new surroundings.

The silver lining in this difficult episode is the fact that we have seized the chance to create a more attractive, more pleasant and brighter environment that reflects the hubs at Chippenham and County Hall. To name just a few of the improvements, you will see;

• a light and airy atrium, providing a welcoming and attractive entrance to the building
• better lighting, air-con and heating
• more space for break-out sessions
• smarter, more colourful décor – providing a more cheerful and agreeable working atmosphere

Teams had the opportunity to view the offices on Thursday and Friday and to have an update from Alistair on the work that’s taken place as well as ask any questions. The ways of working will be consistently applied over the three hubs including desk ratios, flexible working practices and break out areas for meetings.

This week the Families and Children’s Transformation programme board met. Along with our partners we discussed how we are progressing with projects to help us continue to improve the services we provide for children and young people. There is a new webpage for FACT where you can find out more detail. 

We are preparing for one last push in our canvass, as residents continue to return their household enquiry forms. It might seem at times like an unglamorous admin chore, but in reality it forms an important foundation of our democratic process. Free and fair elections depend on a reliable and accurate electoral roll. That’s why we take such pains to ensure that our voting list is up-to-date, and that everyone who has the right to cast a ballot gets the chance to do so.

This year we aimed to make the process even ever than before, by promoting online and text replies for the enquiry form. More than 159,000 forms of the forms sent out – 72% - have been completed, with 70,000 - 44% - of those returned digitally.

We’re delighted with that response because it means people are securing their right to vote, and because digital responses save money by cutting down postal costs and the time our staff spend on processing forms. It’s a great solution that works for everyone. The canvass ends on 5 November.

Our EmployAbility Fair returns to County Hall in a couple of weeks on 2 October. Teams are working hard to prepare for this event, which supports jobseekers with disabilities by putting them in touch with employers and support services. Around 30 organisations will attend including Wiltshire Police, Asda, BT Openreach and Longleat. Last year's event was well attended and enormously popular, and we’re looking forward to another success next month.

It is unjust and unacceptable that people with disabilities are denied good jobs. We’re so glad that some great organisations in our county, including ourselves, can see past disability and appreciate the value of a more inclusive workforce. There is so much untapped talent waiting to be discovered, so we hope this will provide a productive platform for people with disabilities to showcase themselves to high-profile recruiters.

This has been a week when all three of us have been out and about in the community, meeting staff and staying closely in touch with the way our services are received across the county.

As we already discussed, Alistair met staff at Bourne Hill and has attended a number of other meetings related to the ongoing recovery of Salisbury and Amesbury. 

Carlton has been visiting adult social care teams, and experiencing the important work our teams are doing in the field. He will be out meeting more teams in the coming months.

Terence is scheduled to meet fellow directors of children’s services across the south west today in Taunton to discuss common issues. 

Carlton and Terence also met around fifty new staff attending the induction session yesterday. A lively group who will undoubtedly be an asset to the teams they have joined.

We also met colleagues from Wiltshire Police for one of our regular face-to-face meetings, where we talked about how we work together, forthcoming projects and how we keep the people of the county safe. 

As you can see, it’s already a busy autumn for us and for everyone at the council – just like we promised in our last blog!

Thanks for all your hard work and dedication.

Alistair, Carlton and Terence

Six months on and a big week in the Salisbury incident investigation

 This week marked six months since the first incident in Salisbury and a significant move in the investigation, with Counter Terrorism Police having enough evidence to charge two Russian men over the novichok attack. We hope this breakthrough provides reassurance to all those who have been affected by this incident, and shows just how seriously the police have taken this investigation.

Wiltshire Council continue to support Salisbury and Amesbury to ensure they thrive in the long-term. We would like to take this opportunity to again thank everyone right across the council, who have been involved in the recovery work so far. Likewise, we thank everyone who has been carrying out the ‘business as usual’ work as the incidents have had a knock-on effect on workloads. Your professionalism under pressure has been admirable.

While Alistair has been on annual leave this week, we led discussions with directors around the budget and upcoming cabinet and full council meetings.

Carlton attended meetings with our health partners Tuesday along with a visit to FDM printers Thursday, in his capacity as returning officer and electoral registration officer. This visit provided an opportunity to have a tour of the building to ensure the processes and quality assurance of all the print wok for our elections and annual canvass. We left feeling reassured of the quality of work and the systems in place.

Terence has been in various meetings planning and preparing for the impending Ofsted inspection. Terence and Lucy undertook a visit to the safeguarding team in the South of Wiltshire to spent time working with, and learning from, staff and their experiences.

With children now back to school, and some starting for the first time, this week saw the culmination of all the hard work of our admissions team in allocating places. As you can imagine this is an immensely difficult logistical challenge. Now the process starts again for next year’s school places, we wish our fabulous admissions team luck!

Dyson revealed plans to submit a planning application for their proposed campus at Hullavington Airfield last week. If it all goes through the plans will bring investment and high-skilled jobs to the county. Having a global brand like Dyson on our doorstep has been extremely valuable to the Wiltshire economy and it’s encouraging that they clearly value the opportunities available in our county.

Speaking of investment, this week’s Melksham Area Board heard a report on the progress of the town centre campus. Plans are moving forward well and when it opens as expected in 2021, it will provide a modern facility with a long-term sustainable future. It was also confirmed at the meeting that unfortunately the difficult decision has been taken to close the Christie Miller Sports Centre permanently next month. The centre is run for us by Places for People, and their staff will be offered jobs at other centres. It needed expensive work to get the centre to a good state to operate effectively, and that really wasn’t sensible given it was going to be replaced in the long-term. The centre was always going to close as part of the campus project which will be disappointing for some who use the leisure facilities or are based at the centre however, we will work to relocate the clubs that use the centre as best we can.

Melksham has seen major investment over the last 18 months, and the campus will be an impressive asset right at the heart of the community.

We’ll speak to you again next week.

Carlton and Terence

The start of a new term awaits

Can you believe that next week will be ‘start of term’ as September arrives and we move into a busy and challenging end to this year?

Hopefully you’ve been able to take a break over the summer period and recharged as the calendar of council, team and project meetings resume. As the autumn approaches next year’s budget planning gets underway. This is an annual process but throughout the year we discuss delivery of savings and additional income with the extended leadership team and cabinet members. You may be aware of recent reports of other councils that have reported being at near-breaking point financially; whilst this is not the situation in Wiltshire, we recognise the value and need for careful and detailed plans and review.

Updates on next year’s (2018/19) budget will feature in our blog until it’s finalised in February. It’s important that everyone is aware of our overall financial situation as this is the basis of the context for many decisions that need to be made.

The autumn will also see public meetings being arranged that provide an opportunity for cabinet members to talk to local communities about the council’s vision, focus and the challenges that we face.

This week the Local Government Boundary Commission for England announced that it is ‘minded to’ recommend that Wiltshire Council retains its current number of councillors of 98 beyond the next elections in 2021. If this proposal goes ahead it doesn’t mean the status quo will remain as there are likely to be changes to electoral divisions.

We’d recommend you look at our electoral review pages which explain the process. The Local Government Boundary Commission for England are now publicly consulting on their conclusions and the Wiltshire Council Electoral Review committee are also looking for people’s views – and council staff are included in that. They can be emailed to committee@wiltshire.gov.uk.

Next week (Tuesday 4 September) marks six months since the incident in Salisbury. This milestone date is a focus for local and national media and BBC’s Inside Out programme on Monday (3 September) features Salisbury and how the city has coped and is moving forward.

On a lighter note you may have seen a story this past week about a woman who wrote a poem to appeal against a parking ticket. Our appeals officer replied with a poem of his own to confirm that her appeal had been successful (for legitimate reasons we should add, not just for her rhyming skills!). The woman was delighted with her reply and the good humour shown and the story was covered by national media, and there was also a lot of positive feedback across social media about how we handled this.  Sometimes it’s good that the public can see that the council is made up of real people with real personalities. It’s also good to see the parking team get a warm response as they work so hard and rarely get positive publicity.

We don’t think we’ll roll out any poetry training on grow any time soon - even though clearly that’s the way forward for positive customer interactions…

Have a good weekend

Alistair, Carlton and Terence

Another varied week

One thing that’s for certain in the world of local government is that no one week is ever the same.

This week the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, James Brokenshire, visited Salisbury to meet those involved in the response and recovery of both the city and Amesbury and to highlight further afield that both are very much open for business. His visit was widely publicised and provided reassurance that central government is committed to helping Salisbury and Amesbury get back to normal.  

Another significant and positive milestone is Queen Elizabeth Gardens in Salisbury, which reopens to the community today (Friday 24 August). This popular city centre park has been closed since July and its closure has affected footfall into the city centre. Its reopening is good news especially on the eve of the August Bank Holiday when many families will be out and about.

On the theme of families – it’s that time of the year when our thoughts were with all those students picking up GCSE results, which we know can be a daunting time for young people. The overall results have been really good and even if the passes weren’t as expected there’s always options. One is apprenticeships and we’re committed to recruiting apprentices as we know how effective they can be. We held an event at County Hall for young people and parents to find out more about this option and we are really pleased that the number of apprenticeships is increasing year on year. If you know of someone who may be interested in apprenticeships please see the Parents' Guide to Apprenticeships on the Work Wiltshire website.

This week Carlton spent some time with the adult social care team looking at how the service is working following its recent period of transformation. Carlton met with team members from access and reablement, the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub, the RUH hospital integrated discharge service and the Devizes mental health team, among others. It was a really useful learning experience and inspiring to meet a lot of skilled and dedicated staff doing great work.

On another note and highlighting how in one week nothing is the same and the diverse nature of our work; officers from our fleet compliance team joined colleagues in the Wiltshire Police Road Safety Unit to undertake an exercise across Warminster, Amesbury and Salisbury. The aim was to uncover any safety issues with taxis and private hire vehicles through a series of random stops. Fifty vehicles were inspected and two were taken off the road immediately for defective tyres. An example of partnership working to ensure public safety.

This weekend is a bank holiday and we hope you all enjoy the extra day and fingers crossed that the sun shines!

Alistair, Carlton and Terence

Looking forward to welcoming two new colleagues in November

We’re sure you’ll agree that it continues to be a busy summer. It seems the days when work slowed a little at this time of year are most definitely in the past.

We are pleased to confirm that we have appointed two new Directors following completion of a recent recruitment process. Helean Hughes has been appointed to the role of Director Education & Skills and will join us on Monday 5 November. Helean is currently working at South Gloucestershire Council where she is the Head of Education, Learning & Skills. Claire Edgar has been appointed to Director, Learning Disabilities & Mental Health and will join us on Wednesday 14 November. Claire is currently working at Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council where is the Head of Service for Mental Health & Learning Disabilities. We are really looking forward to welcoming them both to Wiltshire.

We mentioned last week that the annual canvass is underway, which helps ensure that the electoral register is up to date. We’re pleased to say we’ve had a really positive response, with people clearly receiving the message to respond via text or online. Only one-third of returns are arriving by post, which is good news. It saves taxpayers’ money and staff time. The canvass runs until the autumn and we’ll continue to encourage people to respond digitally.

Earlier this week it was confirmed that The Mill pub in Salisbury is now safe following a thorough clean by specialist teams after the Novichok incident in March. The site has been handed back to its owners, who aim to re-open in the autumn following some refurbishment. This marks another significant step forward in the recovery programme and it will be good to see the centrally located pub reopen for business. Slowly business is returning to normal and we need to focus on the longer term and getting visitors and tourists back into the city centre. Working with Visit Wiltshire and Visit England we are looking at how Salisbury is promoted to rebuild confidence and allay any concerns.

We were really pleased that Ofsted recognised the improvements made by our family learning team for their work to reconnect adults with education. The inspectors carried out a monitoring visit and awarded a Good Progress grade in four areas that were highlighted in a previous inspection. Well done to the team for their hard work, which puts the service in great shape ahead of another inspection in the autumn.

We have been communicating the message as wide as we can to encourage people to dispose of their waste correctly. Unfortunately, we are spending more on picking up waste dropped in our communities – money which would be better spent on front-line services. Our campaign was supported by magistrates who imposed penalties totalling £1,230 on a Swindon man for fly-tipping in Broad Hinton. He claimed to have paid someone to dispose of his rubbish but didn’t check they had the correct licence to do so. The message is that we won’t tolerate fly tipping and we will work hard to prosecute offenders.

We’re sure that A-Level results will have dominated many households this week. Don’t forget if you’re one of these households - whatever the results were - there are lots of opportunities for young people in Wiltshire. That goes the same for those getting their GCSE results next week. Fingers crossed for everyone who has an interest in those.

Alistair, Carlton and Terence

Don't miss out on having your say

Hello,

As has been widely reported, the funeral of Dawn Sturgess was held in Salisbury on Monday. Jane Scott sent flowers on behalf of the whole council and our sincere condolences go to Dawn’s family and friends at this difficult time.

The community spirit in both Salisbury and Amesbury has been remarkable and recognised by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales in a letter thanking local people for their resilience after the recent incidents. You can read the letter here.

If you are a resident in the county, over the next few days you should receive a letter from Carlton, in his capacity as Electoral Registration Officer, asking you to respond to the household enquiry form. These letters are being sent out as part of our annual canvass – a huge logistical challenge which involves around 220,000 letters being sent out to Wiltshire households and the responses collated to ensure that our electoral register is accurate and up to date.

Please return your response online and encourage your friends and family to do the same.
The canvass itself is really important to ensure that anyone who is eligible to vote is actually registered. Please don’t miss out on having your say. Our thanks go to the elections team at this busy time for them.

The consultation on the future of special educational needs schools came to a close this week. We received more than 850 responses and the team will now begin the process of going through the responses to gain a better understanding of views on an issue which people understandably feel very strongly about. Once this has been done, a report will be considered by Cabinet in the autumn to agree the next steps.

The Families and Children’s Transformation Programme Board met at Springfield Community Campus in Corsham this week. Members discussed a number of updates on the programme – including a proposal to create an Early Support Hub (which would sit alongside the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub), how partners can work more closely in their approach to commissioning services, and also how we tell people about the great work the programme is doing.

We are pleased to be able to tell you that the new waste and recycling contracts started on Monday as planned with relatively little disruption to services. Our thanks and congratulations go to the waste teams who have worked hard to achieve this, especially over last weekend. There was also great support from Fleet Services, Highways, Finance, HR, Legal Services and Communications to ensure that everything was in place for the commencement of new services. Thanks also go to Customer Services who are now working with residents, the waste service and our contractor Hills to deal with any missed collections and help iron out any wrinkles as the new collection services become established.

On Tuesday we met with our current broadband providers BT Plc and Gigaclear Plc. These quarterly meetings are an important part of the robust contract management process we have in place, that to date has allowed us to deliver a fibre broadband service to over 88,000 premises across Wiltshire on time and within budget.

We also honoured achievements in the field of adult education at an awards ceremony held as part of the Family Learning project. The scheme supports less confident learners who may have missed opportunities in life due to educational, social or emotional circumstances. Students – all parents aged 19 and above – were recognised for the enormous strides they made in the past year as part of our Family Learning project. More than 100 award winners and guests attended the ceremony – well done to everyone involved.

Finally, following interviews last week for Director Education and Skills and Director Adult Care Learning Disabilities and Mental Health we have made offers to successful candidates, and once we have completed the appropriate checks and clearances we will announce who has been appointed.

Alistair, Carlton and Terence

A busy summer ahead

Hello,

We are almost in the summer holiday period, and while this means that the number of meetings reduce, there is little sign of the organisation slowing down. The programme of work across service areas combined with the incidents in Amesbury and Salisbury is keeping us all busy.

On Tuesday evening a special community meeting was held in Salisbury to update local people on the investigation following the recent incident and on the recovery programme, and, most importantly, to provide an opportunity for local people to ask questions and raise their concerns with a panel of representatives including Alistair, Wiltshire Police and Public Health England.

About 200 members of the public attended and so far the live broadcast of the meeting (available on our Facebook page) has been seen around 7,500 times and this number is rising.

A special community meeting was also held last night, this time in Amesbury, to update the local community and to enable a question and answer session. This meeting was also broadcast live.

These meetings are a really important way of engaging with local communities, and gaining a better understanding of their concerns; particularly given the recent extraordinary events that have taken place and the ongoing media attention that these have generated.

Throughout the recovery phase we will be doing all we can to support the communities of Amesbury and Salisbury. We recognise that full recovery will take time and we need to support the local economy and wider community, both in the immediate aftermath of the incidents, and in the longer term. The government’s recent announcement of a further funding to provide immediate support enables us to continue to allocate grants and business rate relief to those affected during this difficult period. 

The long-term plans to support the local economy have been discussed with central government and include accelerating local development and regeneration programmes to bring jobs and investment to the wider local community. We will update on this programme in future blogs.

This week the Officer Appointments Committee meets to consider two Tier 2 appointments -Education & Skills and Learning Disabilities & Mental Health. We’ll update you on the outcome of the interviews as soon as possible.

During the summer, the Families and Children’s Transformation team will be attending various family fun days to speak to parents and carers to better understand what’s important to them and how they want to be supported during times of need. You can have your say by going to our Families and children’s transformation survey 2018

Our Black, Minority, Ethnic Staff Network held their regular meeting this week with four guest speakers. Kerry Beety and Saeed Naizai told an inspiring story of a young refugee child's journey to the UK and how he found a loving new family through fostering; Hári Sewell, a management consultant and former NHS executive director, gave a motivational talk on making a positive impact in society; and senior democratic services officer Will Oulton spoke about the importance of blood donation and the need for more BME donors. Well done to everyone involved in organising and taking part in this event.

Just a reminder that the changes to recycling collections comes into effect next Monday with the aim of encouraging everyone to recycle more and reduce the waste collected. The team has done a great job raising awareness of the extra items you can now recycle and you can find out more on our website.

Finally, for those of you taking a break during the school holidays, enjoy some time off and if it’s a staycation fingers crossed the sunshine lasts!

Alistair, Carlton and Terence

Amesbury update

As you’ll be aware the eyes of the world’s media are once again focused on Wiltshire following a major incident being declared in the early hours of Wednesday last week and last night we heard the tragic news that Dawn Sturgess had died as a result of coming into contact with the nerve agent Novichok. 

Having a death occur in our local community; particularly in such extraordinary circumstances will undoubtedly affect local residents and we will continue to support them and our partners in any way we can whilst the police carry out their investigation into this dreadful crime.  

A public meeting will be held in Amesbury tomorrow evening (Tuesday 10 July). Local and national partners will be attending to update and provide support and reassurance to the town. The Prime Minister has also committed support to helping the local communities of both Amesbury and Salisbury. Salisbury has shown such stoicism and resilience since the first incident occurred in March and we will continue to provide help, where it is needed, throughout this extremely difficult period for both of these local communities.

As we have said previously we need dedicated resource to support Amesbury and Salisbury and we recognise that we also need sufficient resource to continue to deliver council services and the important programmes that are vital to transforming how we work in the future. We are therefore discussing appropriate interim arrangements to ensure we have resource allocated where it is needed for the foreseeable future.

We will keep you updated you on the incident and recovery situation and please remember that the guidance from Public Health England remains that there is not a significant health risk to the wider public.

Last week cabinet met and discussed our improvement in adoption performance, future ownership of traveller sites, and housing provision in the county (an issue which will be discussed again at Full Council tomorrow).

We were really pleased that cabinet agreed a further investment of £1.2m for children’s services to help address the expected increase in demand for social care services in the coming years. The increase reflects a national trend and the funding will help provide additional social workers to meet the increasing demand and ensure we can achieve our ambitious plans to improve outcomes for children.

The hot weather looks set to continue and we fully appreciate that County Hall is extremely warm and at times we know it’s an uncomfortable working environment. The air handling system is under extraordinary pressure as a result of the continued high temperatures and some serious technical failures. We’re working to fix the problems and to review what system the building needs for the future. In the meantime, wherever possible consider working in other hubs, or from home whilst this matter is resolved.

And, we must just say a huge well done to senior corporate support officer Kartar Singh, who won the Local Government Challenge at last week’s LGA national conference. This is nothing short of an incredible achievement – for those who aren’t aware, the competition sees the best and brightest local government officers compete in a series of real-life events around the country. The final was held at the annual conference in Birmingham and Kartar really impressed the judges. Well done Kartar a great accolade for you and the council!

Alistair, Carlton and Terence

Thank you

Hello,

We’ll start this week with a really big thank you – to everyone who supported us as we cycled the length and breadth of Wiltshire last week.

It was some ride – 130-odd miles – but it was a beautiful day and it’s fair to say we enjoyed it. Most of it, anyway!

The ride was a real team achievement and we are so pleased that together we raised more than £3,000 for Wiltshire Mind, which is a great cause.

Thanks to everyone who donated to our Just Giving page, and to our support team on the day, who made everything run so smoothly.

We’d particularly like to thank the #EPIC team, who set themselves the challenge of engaging staff to beat our 130 miles…which they did quite comfortably with around 725 miles ridden on exercise bikes in Trowbridge, Chippenham and Salisbury – a fantastic achievement which helped raise £315 towards our total.

Thanks also go to all the riders who took part and especially Steve Manning, who had the original idea for the ride and turned it into reality. And, knowing Steve, he is already mapping out an even tougher challenge for next year…

While we’re talking about #EPIC, well done to the team who were finalists at yesterday’s HR Excellence Awards. Terence joined them for the awards ceremony, where our staff engagement work was nominated in two categories - most innovative deployment of HR technology, and outstanding employee engagement strategy.

This is a brilliant achievement from what is, let’s not forget, a relatively new team which has already achieved so much and deserves recognition – and no doubt there’ll be lots more achieved in the near future.

On the subject of recognition there is still time to get your nominations in for individuals or teams who you think have gone above and beyond and deserve an Achieving Excellence award. Please make your nomination here by the end of the week.

You’ll no doubt be aware of the media coverage of the visit of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall to Salisbury last week.

More than 5,000 people were at the Market Square to see Their Royal Highnesses and they took time to meet the traders and businesses that were directed affected in The Maltings and all those who have been involved in the incident – either as a first responder, or as part of the recovery programme. The city is starting to get back to normal and the Royal visit was a huge boost attracting so many visitors. This weekend (30 June) the winning bid to host next year’s National Armed Forces Day will be announced. If ever there was a time and place for recognising the role of the military – it surely has to be Salisbury that’s chosen – fingers crossed!

Looking ahead to next week, Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting has a really busy agenda. While the headlines from the meeting will no doubt focus on housing (with a big attendance expected for the item on the site allocations plan), the agenda touches on so many parts of our work – including gypsy and travellers, adult social care, governance, social workers, adoption, and an update on our overall performance which affects all areas.

We’ll update on that, and more, next week.

Finally, thanks to all of you for your patience during the hot weather – we’re aware that working conditions are quite uncomfortable for many, particularly at County Hall, and we would urge you to ensure you read the latest advice to help you stay as comfortable as possible. 

Alistair, Carlton and Terence

The Bustard Ride is nearly upon us

Hello,

Well the day has almost arrived, as tomorrow – the longest day – we will be setting off bright and early for the 130 mile Bustard Ride around Wiltshire.

We’re as prepared as we can be for what promises to be a challenging but great day – if a somewhat exhausting one!

Thanks to everyone who has sponsored us in raising money for the mental health charity Wiltshire MIND. If you haven’t sponsored us yet, please do so by visiting our Just Giving Page

We’re really grateful for the support we’ve been shown by so many of you – so far around £1,800 has been pledged – and not just with sponsorship, but also by those taking part either in the ride itself or  providing support along the route. In addition the #EPIC team have set you all a challenge to beat our 130 miles by riding exercise bikes that will be set up in County Hall, Monkton Park and Churchfields so please take an opportunity to support this…and if you fancy it, you can hop on one of the bikes too. We wish them and you the best of luck.

We’ll let you know how we get on and we have chosen the longest day to allow time and light if we need it! You can follow our progress on twitter – follow @wiltscouncil – or on our website.

Tomorrow is also the summer Solstice and many staff are involved in supporting this major event which attracts thousands of visitors.

Talking of major events this week ends with what promises to be amazing memorable day in Salisbury with the visit of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall to the city to supports its recovery.

They’ll be meeting members of the public and local businesses before a special reception at the Guildhall to meet first responders and all those who have been involved in the city’s recovery programme.

The recovery took another step forward this week with the handing back of Amesbury ambulance station, the third site to be handed back, following The Maltings shopping centre and Salisbury ambulance station. Salisbury is returning to normal and visitor numbers are slowly picking up.

Later on Friday, the Families and Children’s Transformation Programme Board meets in Devizes - FACT is a real multi-agency programme, which is now into its second phase with a focus on:

• No Wrong Door – an integrated multi-disciplinary service for young people aged 12 – 25 who are either in care or on the edge of care
• The development of a joint systems leadership approach
• Bringing multiple case management systems into one system to ensure all information is shared in one place.There will be more on the outcomes from this meeting in next week’s column, and we’ll continue to keep you updated on this important programme as it grows and develops.

Carlton spent the day with senior managers from adult social care and public health on Tuesday. The away day was a great opportunity for the team to discuss their priorities, values, what great management and leadership look like, and the exciting transformation journey that lies ahead. Thanks to everyone who took part, and for the superb support from the HR&OD team.

Finally, you may be aware that all our special schools for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are now at full capacity and at least 220 new special school places will be required by 2026. In the north of Wiltshire 70 additional places for children with complex needs will be required. Several options will be explored to assess how this provision for pupils with special needs in the future can be met. We are consulting on the options to help decide the future investment in special educational needs schools.

Please do respond yourself, if you would like to, and please do share with friends and family before 31 July. You can find the consultation here.

Alistair, Carlton and Terence